A Dead Child at HIROSHIMAby Taki YurikoThe sound of a bat flapping its wingsMamaIs the sound of my knocking?A hole gapes in the skyMamaIs the scar of clouds scorched at the scattering of my fresh.The voice of Emperor Hirohito praying,Is my alarm clock screaming at me never to sleep.Look, MamaMy little sisters are playing over my head.From inside my eyeA single blade of grassIs about to grow.Long h ...
A Dead Child at HIROSHIMAby Taki YurikoThe sound of a bat flapping its wings
Mama
Is the sound of my knocking?
A hole gapes in the sky
Mama
Is the scar of clouds scorched at the scattering of my fresh.
The voice of Emperor Hirohito praying,
Is my alarm clock screaming at me never to sleep.
Look, Mama
My little sisters are playing over my head.
From inside my eye
A single blade of grass
Is about to grow.
Long have my eyes been bone dry
Mama
No longer do cry.
Translated by AlanRichardson
-----------------------------
Instead of Vengeanceby Taki YurikoAfter the concurrent
9/11 terrorist attacks,
No bereaved family
Hoped for vengeance.
Neither vengeance,
Nor war,
But person-to-person
Understanding and peace.
The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bomb victims
Have not once in 62 years
Spoken of vengeance.
Nearly all say,
'Guilt overwhelms me
That only I remained alive
While my family, my friends
Melted instantly,
Or slowly writhed in agony,'
Before falling silent.
Recently, painfully,
They have spoken more:
'Let us be the last
To suffer such horrors.
Let no one experience this
Ever again.'
On that day,
It was ten times hotter than the sun.
The bomb pressure
Flung a child into the air, then
Slammed him to the ground,
Crushed under 35 tons/m2.
Even three kilometers away,
Faces melted and hair fell off.
Men and women became identical
As skin slid off their bodies
Like elbow-length ladies gloves.
A horse clopped about frantically,
Reared up and
Screeched its last.
The intense heat drove
Many into the river.
Their corpses became a raft
Reaching both banks.
A man trying to cross
Sank and disappeared
With the corpses.
Those left alive
Absorbed radiation
Producing chromosomal damage
That would pass on.
Bones crumbled,
White blood cell counts ran amok.
They say one in four
Considered suicide.
Make known their plight!
Hear the testimony
Of those who suffer
These invisible maladies!
Acknowledge those
Whose horrible conditions are revealed
Only in medical reports!
Let's face this
Not as a government issue,
But as a human issue.
The Nagasaki and Hiroshima bomb victims
Married and gave birth,
Passing their suffering on
To their children and grandchildren.
Yet every bereaved family
And every war victim
Hopes not for vengeance,
But that their fellow humans
Will never do such a thing
Ever again.
Translated by John Saxon---------------------------
Take One's LifeBy Taki Yuriko'Where am I going?'
A child asks.
'To heaven.'
'Really? Wow!'
'Please use this shower.
Wash really well, as
There won't be another chance for awhile.'
Another man arrives and
Has him change clothes.
'Wait, take off your socks, too,' he says.
They walk down a long corridor.
Two more doors reveal
A host of doctors
With big masks, hats and gloves.
Their faces are hidden.
In those days,
What child could imagine it?
The gas chamber was next!
Back then,
Who devised them?
Invasive, deadly medical experiments
With only moments
Of general anesthesia!
Auschwitz.
Kyushu University Medical.
They left no corpses or graves,
Their lives vanished
As if they had never been.
Translated by
Deborah and John Saxon
----------------------------
Biography of TAKI YURIKOBorn in Tokyo, Japan.
JOBS
worked in NIPPON RADIO BROADCASTING
works now in Institute of Education
MEMBER of :
International Writers and Artists Association
The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace
World Congress of Poets-World Academy of Arts and Culture
[Approved by UNESCO]
A Board Member of the 1st Poetry Advisory Committee of the Crane Summit
21st Century International Forum
World Poets Society [W.P.S.]
http://wps-poets.blogspot.com/2007/05/taki-yuriko.html
World Congress of Poets for Research and Recitation
Society of NIPPON RADIO BROADCASTING
WORKS
IN JAPAN
The World of Atomic Bomb Poem Anthology[published by Kadokawa]*1
My Revolution Square[published by Shichousha]
The Japan of Atomic Bomb Literature Anthology[published by Horupu]*2
Poems Against The War Anthology, joint with USA poets 2003 [published
by Souhuusha]
Genocide written with Dr.Ernesto Kahan [published by Nihon Tosho center in
July 2006]
IN GERMANY
SEIT JENVEM TAG ANTHOLOGY [published by Fisher Taschenbuch Verlag]*3
*1,2,3 TAKI Yuriko was the only poet born after the Second World War, to
have poetry selected by the editors who compiled the anthologies.
IN ROMANIA
8500 CHRISTS, LES 8500 CHRISTS[published by Stand @ rt]
the first edition in 2002 and the second edition in 2003
IN USA
Internet publishing http://www.TakiYuriko.org
Harmony in NewYork by WCPPRR
IN FRANCE
ANTHOLOGIE SECRETE [will publish by Jean-Paul Mestas ]
Selected by the editors who compiled the anthology.
IN OTHER COUNTRIES and AWARDS
In 2006 received the Honorary Degree of Doctor in Literature .from World
Academy of Arts and Culture [Approved by UNESCO]
In 2006 'THE BEST POETS OF 2006' from International Writers and Artist
Association with Dr.Ernesto Kahan
In 2006 'NeoungKeoum prize'from the Hangchon Culture Foundation in Korea
In 2005 'Medal Festos'from International Society of Greek Writers & Arts
In the Newspaper or Magazine of Australia, Brazil, China, Korea, Mongolia,
India, Greece and France. In the Dictionary of 2000 Outstanding People 2003
by International Biographical Centre Cambridge in U.K.
Literary Works translated into 11 Languages from poetry book '8500 Christs'
English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Hangul, Chinese, Russian
Romanian, Mongolian, Greek
ADDRESS
1893-48 OSAKA-CHO U SHIKU-SHI IBARAKI-KEN, JAPAN, 300-1286[c/o
Yamamoto].
yrkaki@ybb.ne.jp
English 
Spanish
